The children of the Aum doomsday cult

NHK News/March 27, 2025

March 20 marked the 30th anniversary of the worst terror attack in Japan's history. While the crimes of the Aum Shinrikyo religious cult have been widely analyzed, at least 100 children who lived with the group received little help. NHK spoke with a man who grew up in the cult to see how its actions haunt his life even now.

Tokyo subway sarin attack

Aum Shinrikyo made international headlines in March 1995 when it staged a chemical attack on Tokyo's subway system.

The group released the deadly sarin nerve agent inside five train carriages during the morning rush hour.

The result was catastrophic — 14 people lost their lives, with around 6,300 injured.

Cult leader Asahara Shoko was executed alongside 12 others in 2018 for the attack and other crimes.

Followers brought their children too

At the time of the incident, Aum had over 11,000 followers, some accompanied by their children. They did not escape indoctrination.

The minors were separated from their parents and made to live in their own groups. They were also prevented from going to school.

An NHK team found a former Aum child

Kenichi, a pseudonym, was taken to the Aum center by his mother when he was in elementary school, eventually living there for five years.

An NHK team found his name among archived documents on Aum cases, then used a combination of sources to locate him.

When we tracked him down on a day he was alone at his workplace, he was initially surprised. However, he soon agreed to an interview under one condition. "You must never come near my family," he says. "They don't know a thing."

Now in his 40s, he lives with his wife and children, but his past is a deep secret. He has told neither close friends nor his family.

"What I tell others about my past is a lie," he says. "What I've told my family about my childhood is untrue, and that pains me. I live in fear that my story may be uncovered at any moment."

Kenichi says that after the Aum base was raided, he had to cut ties with his mother, moving between the houses of different followers before arriving at a children's home.

When he saw the news that the cult's leader Asahara and many of its members were arrested, he realized he had been brainwashed.

Kenichi says he was driven to hide his past due to the fact that society now despised Aum.

"It's better to keep silent because people would think I'm crazy," he says. "I have my cross to bear. I can't reveal my real past, ever."

Children in poor health

After the subway attack, child consultation centers across Japan took 112 children into temporary custody.

Of those, 53 were taken to a center in Yamanashi Prefecture, a region west of Tokyo where Aum was based.

A former official at the center says he had concerns about their health as soon as he saw them.

"They really looked pale," says Hosaka Mitsuo. "A doctor examined them immediately, and said that almost all had skin problems."

Documents obtained by NHK's team include notes on the children's physical and emotional condition.

One official wrote, "They don't wash their hands or faces because they believe what they learned during religious training will be washed away."

The children's diaries revealed hostility toward the outside world.

"I felt they really came from another world," says Hosaka. "I was so confused and wondered how I should interact with them."

Essential support

Of the 112 children in temporary custody across Japan, 68 were raised by parents or relatives. The rest were sent to public facilities such as children's homes. Their situation was far from ideal.

NHK World's Ueno Yamato, part of the investigation, says adults who left Aum could turn to government resources to find work and for other help. But there was almost no official support for their children.

The government did set up a panel of experts to study what kind of support was necessary for the children to regain their physical and mental health.

But that study ended in just two years without detailed recommendations.

One panel member pointed out that they needed to continue their research and provide care for the children going forward. She says the parties involved failed to make that happen.

Even now, some experts say it's necessary to set up safe zones where former Aum children can come forward to talk in confidence about their experiences and the help they might need.

Ueno says society needs to recognize them as victims of the cult too — not just the people killed and injured beneath Tokyo's streets on March 20, 1995.

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